Fertilizer greenhouse gas cuts may take longer than Ottawa wants, farm groups say

The goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from fertilizer use by 30 per cent kicked up more dust than a tractor on a grid road when it was first announced by the federal Liberal government last summer.

Now that some of the dust has settled, agriculture and industry groups say that goal can probably be met without reducing yields — although maybe not as quick as Ottawa would like. 

"Can we get that additional 30 per cent? I think so," said Keith Currie, vice-president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture and a corn producer from Collingwood, Ont.

"But there has to be a combined, collaborative approach by all involved."

Government figures suggest fertilizer accounts for a growing share of the 10 per cent of Canada's greenhouse gas emissions that come from agriculture. Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau has said reducing those emissions by nearly a third by 2030 is ambitious but must be accomplished.